


hush

by aelescribe



Series: infatuation anthology [4]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Jason has a Panic Attack, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-09
Updated: 2018-08-09
Packaged: 2019-06-24 02:03:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,025
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15620046
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aelescribe/pseuds/aelescribe
Summary: He closes his eyes, breathes Nico's skin into his mouth, instead of the dank underground air that threatens to choke him. Nico’s hands find his arm, one steadying his bicep, the other just below his wrist.Jason sweats in anticipation. They still when they hear small rocks tumbling as something approaches. Blood and meat sours the air.“Ssh,” Nico murmurs again when he feels Jason tense.





	hush

**Author's Note:**

> prompt: character a has to bite into character b's shoulder to keep quiet.

They’ve been hiking up the mountain since early morning, taking their time scouting and enjoying each other’s company. Nico’s wearing loose pants and a tank top, shaggy hair drawn into a ponytail. He's wearing Jason's violet flannel around his waist, framing his hips nicely. Jason's doing a lousy job of not getting caught staring and every so often Nico gives him an odd look. He manages to make skepticism look dashing, puffing his curly bangs from his forehead and rolling his doe brown eyes.

Facing off against the king of wolves, he still looks as attractive as ever. Jason keeps one eye on Nico’s flexed arms arms, the scars spider webbing past his elbows, and the other on the lycanthrope sniffing around them. Lycaon apparently can’t stay down for long. Jason listened to Nico’s dissertation of his quest with Reyna and was surprised to hear Lycaon’s name crop up. It’s another six months after that when he attacks them in the rocky mountains during a reconnaissance mission.

Which brings us to--

“The Hades whelp and the golden boy,” Lycaon’s fangs gleam. “Never thought I’d get the pleasure of killing two birds with one stone.”

Jason keeps one arm protectively in front of Nico, the other flexed to his sword. Without silver, fighting will only tire him out. With the sun beating so high overhead, shadows are hard to find, and Nico’s sweating from exertion already. He feels wary of their chances, despite the prowess of both involved. They have to find a way out of this fast.

“I’ve been waiting for you, too,” Nico admits, pulling a silver knife from his boot. He’s learned and Jason hasn’t. “Hoping to pay you back for these scars.” He pulls a defensive stance as the wolves inch closer.

“I’m sure it won’t come to that.” Lycaon chuckles and steps forward. “Don’t be shy, now, boys. We’ll take turns. One of you gets to watch and one of you gets to play. Who’s first?” He looks manic with heat, the heavy pelts slung on his back stinking the mountain air.

“Let me go at him,” Nico utters.

Jason shakes his head. “No, Nico. You’re our one shot at getting out of here.”

“You don’t have any silver. _I do_.” Nico takes a wider stance, his boots sinking into the cracked earth. He goads the king of wolves, “It’s time to put you down again!” Lycaon bares his teeth and hunkers down, taking the bait.

Nico seems set so Jason sighs, stepping aside so Nico can face him. “I’ll scatter the wolves.” With a strike of lightning, Lycaon charges forward. The wolves disperse, startled by the flash and noise. It starts a fire in a bare brush nearby and Jason grabs a handful of the flaming branches, beating back the animals.

Nico splits the ground open and a volley of bony soldiers form a wall between him and Lycaon. Lycaon easily swipes through them with his claws, lunging for Nico. He raises his knife, jamming it wide between his gnashing jaws.

Then Jason comes in and swats him back with the flaming branches. Lycaon howls, clutching his burning face.

“Nice one!” Nico shouts, grinning at him. Jason smiles back, trying not to get dizzy and distracted with Nico’s smile. The purple garment around his waist whips and flows with his movement, almost ethereal in the harsh Colorado sun. Jason's startled when a blur of fur charges at him. Right, he's supposed to be fighting. He pins the wolf in place to the dusty ground, spearing it through the neck. While the skeletons take on Lycaon, Nico hurls the knife toward Jason so he can dissolve the wolf for good. Two more go down just as easy before he relinquishes the knife again.

Nico’s almost dancing, weaving between Jason, the wolves and his undead subjects while he battles Lycaon. He moves with such effortlessness, such ease. Jason may control the wind but Nico’s lighter than any breeze he can conjure. That, and the poised smirk on his face make everything so much simpler. And Lycaon that much angrier.

Lycaon changes his tactic and starts going for Jason instead. Jason can fend him off when his sword changes to spear, but Lycaon’s too fast for him to parry both. He even attacks Jason heedless of the fire he wields. That’s when one of the wolves tackles him and knocks him down, fire branches spilling out of his hand and spreading to patches of grass. It catches blaze quickly and smoke fills the air.

The wolf king leers over him, hoisting Jason up by his shirt, scratching claws down his cheek. “Your sister isn’t here to save you now, Jason Grace,” he breathes. His breath stinks of rotting meat and Jason gags, twisting away.

“Your prey’s over here!” Nico calls. Lycaon turns and as he does, Jason raises his hand, so Nico can toss the silver knife to him again. Jason strikes Lycaon across the brow before he drops him and he _growls_ , clutching his bleeding, bubbling forehead.

“I’ve had enough of you petty demigods,” he spits. His wolves are backing away from the ring of smoke and fire spreading around them.

Nico’s soldiers can’t protect Jason from the ferocious blur that attacks him and the next thing Jason knows, Lycaon’s fangs are sinking into the exposed junction of his shoulder and neck. The silver dagger clatters from his grasp. “Ggnnh--N--N-- _ico_ \--” he chokes. There’s a sickening _squelch_ of teeth sinking into flesh.

Jason’s heart skips a beat.

Stops.

Nico’s eyes are so wide.

Beat beat beat beatbeatbeat _beatbeatbeatbeatbeat_ \--

Lycaon whips around to face Nico, digging his claws into Jason’s arms. The motion stills his bucking body. His eyes glaze over the mountains in the distance, Nico worlds away. Lycaon doesn’t raise his teeth from his skin, only grins as blood bubbles around his fangs.

“Let him go,” Nico growls, and Jason hardly recognizes the timbre.

“I don’t think so,” Lycaon gurgles, drawing his mouth from Jason’s shoulder with a sickening slurp. Nico twitches. “I’ve been _waiting_ for this since those godforsaken hunters stole my prey from me on the mountain. Don’t worry, son of Hades--Jason Grace is the main course, but we won’t leave you high and dry. You’re dessert.”

Jason tries to flash signs of life in his convulsing fingers. There’s a concerning amount of blood dripping down his back and arms. His eyes water from pain and smoke. He inhales, trying to gain his coherency. A gust of wind, a flash of lightning, _anything_ to help him out of this.

He hears the wolves shift forward, avoiding the fire, Nico’s grunts as he fends them off. He struggles in Lycaon’s grip, eyeing the silver knife on the ground. Before he can summon the atmosphere to his advantage, Lycaon kicks it aside, grinning into Jason’s flesh as he bites down again.

This time, Jason screams. Hoarse and rough.

Something shifts. The ground beneath them sinks and Jason feels heavy, suddenly, _so heavy,_ something huge and alien weighing him down. He’s too much to bare and the ground cracks, giving way beneath him and Lycaon.

The wolf king curses and pulls his claws from Jason’s flesh, letting him drop to the earth. He feels a tug on his ankle and then Nico, small hands, softness, pulling him gently along. Through shadow, earth, to the edge of the plateau out of the arc of flames.

“We need to get down,” Nico says dazedly, wiping his eyes. He pants with pain.

“Fly us,” Jason slurs. “I… can get down.”

“No, Jason,” Nico advises. “Not like this.” He can see Nico’s brow is bleeding. He’s in no shape to get them any farther. “I can get us halfway down, then--”

Something knocks into them, knocks the wind out of them, and soon they’re tumbling down the mountain with the horde of wolves. Jason’s injured shoulder hits something that makes him cry out. Dust in his eyes, rocks piercing his side, and shadow. A brief pause. Then they tumble again, farther, further.

When his vision clears, they’re in some hole of a rocks and earth, smushed close together. Nico’s chest heaves and when he shifts, Jason _whimpers_ , the small action a great pain on his shoulder.

“The fire should have dull their sense of smell,” he says. “but we need to stay quiet. Lay low. Make them think we’ve gotten all the way down until I can get us out of here.”

He looks Jason up and down, worry settling creases on his forehead. “That bad?” Jason wheezes. Dirt clots his blood wet shoulder.

“Jason, I don’t--” He swallows. “I don’t think your wrist should be… like that.”

Jason looks down and almost faints.

“Oh gods,” he utters shakily. “Nico, I--” They’re not quite underground, but the air isn’t fresh, and Jason feels trapped, caged, and each breath leaves like it’s been punched out of him. “I’m gonna puke.”

Nico slaps a hand over his mouth. Jason doesn’t think that will help, but then sees Nico press his other hand to his ear. He hears distant wolf howls. “I need to get to your backpack, Jason,” he utters, breath ghosting over Jason’s cheek. He shivers. “Can you lean forward?”

Jason slowly complies. Nico tries to slide the straps down his arms and Jason cries against Nico’s hand, far too loud in the small space.

“Okay, I’m just gonna cut it off,” he murmurs, easing Jason back up again. Pulls a pocket knife from his other boot and cuts the backpack free. There’s ambrosia, nectar, bandages and water. Nico wraps Jason’s shoulder first, wincing with every cry that leaves his lips, unnervingly followed by barks and howls in the distance.

“Jason, we have to set your wrist back,” Nico says.

Jason gulps. He could barely sit through Nico bandaging his arm, and now he’s going to _twist_ that same arm back into its socket--Jason’s going to puke. No air. He’s stuck. He’s going to die. He hasn’t been this scared since a quest he went on with Reyna when they were thirteen, on his way to the Trojan sea monster.

“I can’t,” he whispers, voice growing frantic, panicked with pain. “Nico, I--I can’t, I’ll scream, I’ll--” Another howl, barking, far closer now than it was before. “Oh gods. Oh, my _gods_ \--”

“Jason, ssh. Jason.” Nico turns Jason’s chin towards him. Even with bangs matted to his bloody forehead, he looks so enigmatic, eyes as dark as their earthen hideout. “Don’t listen to what’s going on out there. Listen to me. Okay? We’re going to set your arm--ssh, it’s okay. You’re not going to make a sound.” Nico shifts closer, slides onto Jason’s lap, straddling his shaking legs. He’s littered with wounds and he offers Jason his bruised right shoulder, leaning forward as though to hug him. “Put my shoulder in your mouth.”

He’s dizzy, confused, and very attracted. Any other situation with Nico on his lap, offering his pale, freckled shoulder, Jason would jump at the chance. But now he’s hesitant. “I’m not a werewolf, Nico.”

He smiles dryly. “Trust me?”

Jason sobers instantly, hesitantly securing his lips to Nico’s shoulder. He closes his eyes, breathes Nico's skin into his mouth, instead of the dank underground air that threatens to choke him. Nico’s hands find his arm, one steadying his bicep, the other just below his wrist.

Jason sweats in anticipation. They still when they hear small rocks tumbling as something approaches. Blood and meat sours the air.

“Ssh,” Nico murmurs again when he feels Jason tense. He fusses with his hair, tugs him closer, flush against Nico’s lithe body. He listens, arms tense around Jason, ready for escape. Blood drips from Nico’s forehead onto the edge of his gold frames.

“They can’t have gotten all the way down the mountain,” they hear Lycaon’s husky voice pant. “Fan out! They have to be close… _have_ to be…” He mutters wildly to himself, half grunts and growls as his wolves kick up dust on the ground.

Jason can hardly see through the light filtering in the cracks of rocks covering their hole in the mountain. “Don’t look,” is the whisper that draws his attention in the dark again. That hand curls into the back of his neck and he breathes into Nico’s cool flesh. He feels calmer with Nico next to him, pressed to him, even with Lycaon and the wolves hunting them outside and Nico’s hands wandering over his skin and raising goosebumps and _snapping his wrist back into place_.

Jason muffles a yell into Nico’s shoulder. Nico cradles the back of his neck, pushing him forward, stifling the sound against his skin. He only lets out a silent grunt of pain, legs bucking once, to the affection of Jason’s teeth in his skin. Tears bleed between his lashes.

Nico hisses a long curse under his breath, and his air doesn’t run out until they hear Lycaon and his wolves move on. But they sit there, dark and silent, for a long time. Hours, perhaps. Nico gently feeding him bits of ambrosia, what little nectar they have--refusing to take any no matter how much Jason softly begs.  
  
Jason feels useless. He's horribly injured, trapped underground, and he can't do anything for himself or Nico. All they can do is wait, let his panic and anxiety compound upon each other. But whenever his breath hitches, Nico's there, soothing him back to normal. "We're going to get out of here," he whispers, so soft Jason isn't sure whether he's thinking the words or they're being spoken aloud. "It's okay, Jason. I've got you. I always do."  
  
He does. Jason returns the favor gently stroking his hair, thumb brushing the cut on his forehead. "You should really take something for that," he mumbles.   
  
Nico sighs, slow and long. "I'll be fine."  
  
"Let me--" A horrible moment of impulse he can't quell, and he's pulled Nico forward to brush his lips above the wound.   
  
"That's gross," is all Nico says, but Jason thinks he's blushing. He definitely is when he presses his thumbs to Jason's lips, taking care to wipe the blood staining them.  
  
He lets silence befall them again and risks being a little closer in their already impossibly close quarters. He at least lets himself enjoy the company while it lasts. Enjoy Nico.

“I’m--have to get us out of here,” Nico says. Jason’s head snaps up at the sound of his voice. He hasn’t spoken for a while. “Gonna shadow travel. Okay? And… probably gonna pass out. But I think I have enough energy to get us back to camp.”

“Wait,” Jason mumbles. “Just wait a second.”

Nico stops, waiting for him to speak. Jason’s eyes have long adjusted to the dark and he stares at Nico. “What?”

“Nothing.” Jason traces the blood that’s dried in a streak down his head. “Just wanna--” Wets his lips and sighs, leaning his head forward to rest on Nico’s shoulder. He tightens his hands on Nico’s waist, notes how he doesn’t shift. “Want you to be okay.”

“I will be.” Nico’s hands find his and he splays his fingers over the back of Jason’s palm. “You’re here.”

As though that’s all he needs. Jason’s throat tightens and shadows engulf them.

The next time he’s coherent, it’s in the infirmary, someone’s hand lightly gripping his bruised wrist. He winces, sighs when soft cotton traps the appendage. Slowly everything flows back to him and he squints at the boy wrapping his wound.

Will places Jason’s glasses back on his face, watching him closely as he blinks, fingers still curled beneath his hand. “You with me?”

“Yeah. I think--” Jason sinks into the pillow. “Mhm. I’m good.”

“Well, I wouldn’t go _that_ far, in my professional opinion,” Will hums. “But you did a good job setting your wrist back. And lucky enough, it was a clean break.”

“Nico did that,” he says, not missing the way the medic’s eyes narrow. “Where is…?”

Will jerks his head to the left and Jason sees Nico there, sleeping contentedly on a cot beside him. Jason’s heart swells. His forehead is snugly bandaged. “You were both in pretty bad shape, but the worst is over. Just stay here for two or three days, and I’m going to put your arm in a sling just to be safe.”

Jason shifts and feels the bandages on his shoulder, where Lycaon’s fangs dug into him. He’d shudder if it wouldn’t pain him.

Nico blinks himself awake an hour later and immediately drags his bed closer to Jason’s, for both their comforts. Luckily no one else comments. “How are you feeling?” Nico asks gently, reaching a hand to touch Jason’s uninjured shoulder.

Jason remembers his pain, the mountain, Nico’s gentle insistence coaxing him through. He’s grateful for everything, but also can’t help feeling ashamed of himself. So weak as a leader, as a friend. “Uh… not great,” he admits. His anxiety froze him as soon as Lycaon got a few licks in, and from then on he was useless. And Nico got hurt because of it. “Sorry I clammed up on you back there. You shouldn’t have had to carry my dead weight around.”

Nico’s nose wrinkles. “Jason, you were seriously hurt.”

“But I still should have--”

“There’s no should have.” Nico corrects. His voice softens. “You’re gonna get hurt sometimes. And you’re allowed to be taken care of, too. You’ve always been there for me, right? So let me be there, too.”

Jason relaxes into the cot, a small smile tugging his lips. He feels so warm, comforted now, with Nico at his side. "Okay," he concedes quietly. And Nico reaches down to squeeze his hand. The change of his forwardness, showing physical affection, makes it hard for Jason's face to stay impassive. Harder when Nico goes from rugged and handsome to adorable when he shrugs the flannel off his waist and slips into it easily.  
  
"I'm not going to get my shirt back, am I?" Jason asks.   
  
Nico shakes his head, popping out, "Nope."  
  
They both agree it looks better on him anyway.

**Author's Note:**

> lycaon's a punk but i like using him because he's got that nico and jason connection so i thought a face off with the three of them would be cool. also, nico saving jason. im a big fan. hope you guys enjoyed it!


End file.
